Compared to the mess in the city of Mumbai, Mumbai's Royal British Navy supply dock and its surroundings are much more orderly.

A total of twenty ex-dreadnoughts, as well as an even greater number of cruisers of various types, have turned the supply docks into a jungle of steel.

On the sea surface within a range of dozens of kilometers beyond the dock, there are a larger number of warships of all kinds scattered and cruising on alert, and the Ming fleet may appear on the embankment.

These ships were the combined Anglo-French fleet that had broken into the Lesser West, and the commander of the hour was Britain's most famous admiral: Horatio Nelson.

Due to the direct drive of the industrial revolution of the Ming Dynasty, the science and technology of the whole world developed rapidly, and by the time of Nelson's time, there had long been no gangside gang warfare.

Nelson, who is forty-seven years old this year, has not lost his eyes and arms as he did in history, and is still physically intact and healthy enough.

Little did he know, of course, that he would have died in October of this year and would later become a symbol of the spirit of the British Navy.

Now Nelson, with the combined fleet of Britain and France, broke into the Little Western Ocean, of course, he had the idea of a direct decisive battle with the main fleet of the Ming Dynasty.

But this will is not strong.

With the current range and detection capabilities of warships, although it is difficult for the Ming fleet to really control the sea control of the entire small Western Ocean, at least it has most of the sea control.

Most of the area around the small Western Ocean is a colony of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming fleet is very convenient for any action.

The combined Anglo-French fleet was limited at every turn.

Before the news of the start of the peace talks was confirmed, Nelson's fleet did not dare to make more stops in the port of Tianzhu, and the supplies came secretly in batches in turns.

Even more afraid to resupply in a place like Mumbai, which is close to the front line.

The area around British Tianzhu was a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and there were also a large number of Ming Dynasty informants in British Tianzhu itself.

Not only are there all kinds of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty active, but also a large number of Tianzhu locals take the initiative to serve the Ming people.

If the Anglo-French combined fleet docks en masse, if it is discovered by these informants and contacts the Ming fleet to come over and surround it, it is likely that it will have to fight a decisive battle under the most unfavorable situation.

In fact, the combined Anglo-French fleet was ready to turn back to the Atlantic at any moment after breaking into the Lesser Western Ocean.

As for what the Ming newspaper said that the Anglo-French combined fleet threatened the Malacca Strait route, this news is indeed true.

The sea route that threatens the Ming Dynasty is the purpose of the Anglo-French combined fleet, and it is also the task that it actually performs.

However, the specific war situation is a little different from what is rendered in the Ming newspaper and what ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty imagine.

Nelson's way of threatening the Malacca shipping route was not to attack the land and islands of the Strait of Malacca.

That is, in a state of absolute disadvantage, trying to fight a decisive battle with the main force of the Ming Dynasty, there is basically no possibility of victory.

In fact, he was cruising in the small Western region, trying to cut off the sea routes between the Ming Dynasty and the East Mo Continent, the South Mo Continent, and the Great Eclipse.

Support the military operations of the Anti-Ming Alliance in Tianzhu, East Mozhou, South Mozhou, and Dashi areas, and interfere with the support of the Ming fleet on the battlefield.

The task of the Ming fleet was to cut the back of the Anglo-French combined fleet in turn and force the Anglo-French combined fleet to withdraw from the Little Western Ocean.

The two sides circled each other on the Little Western Ocean, chased each other for several days, and several small-scale avant-garde battles broke out.

Although the main fleet also encountered it twice, it was because one of them felt that it was not in a good posture to enter, and after a little contact, it left the battlefield.

In the era of sail warships, once the fleet fell into a disadvantage, it was difficult to get out of the battlefield when the wind was unfavorable, and it had to fight a decisive battle.

But by the time of the steam warships, fleet operations were no longer dependent on the direction of the wind, and radio gave commanders control over the entire fleet.

How the superior side forced the inferior side to fight a decisive battle on the spot, instead of slipping away when the situation was wrong, has become a very important issue in naval battles.

This is the main reason why the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of gunboats in human history, was fought against the grain, and it is also an important reason why it is difficult to see the decisive battle of battleships in the future.

It was not until the appearance of aircraft carriers with particularly long hands that this problem was slightly solved, after all, no matter how fast the ship runs, it can't outrun the plane.

Now that the war itself is over, naval struggles have ceased, and fleet battles have been avoided altogether.

After the news of the peace talks was officially confirmed, Nelson approached the Bombay docks with the fleet.

But for the time being, it was still only partially docked, and the battleship and crew were also partially relaxed, divided into three groups to take turns to replenish and rest.

The deputy commander from France, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, commanded supply operations in the fleet.

Nelson stood on the dock to relax, and his deputy, Cuthbert Collingwood, trotted over with an envelope:

"Telegram from London, the venue for the peace talks has been officially set, at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the Prime Minister invites you to the peace talks.

"At the same time, Your Majesty and the Prime Minister have confirmed that they are about to canonize you as an earl and be promoted to admiral."

Nelson had anticipated his arrangement, and he was not too surprised by the location of the peace talks, but said with emotion:

"Cape of Good Hope...... Really a place that brings good luck to us Europeans......"

Collingwood couldn't help but smile dryly and asked:

"Is it really good luck? Many people complained about the atrocities of the Spaniards and the Dutch in Luzon and Java, which angered the terrible dragon of the Ming Dynasty......"

Nelson took the envelope from his companion's hand, pulled out the telegram inside, and said with a smile as he read the details:

"Of course, it's a good fortune, if it weren't for the direct route between East and West, we might still be using sailboats right now.

"We may have to fight broadside battles with our swords, and if we are not careful, we may lose our arms, eyes, and even lives.

"Maybe I'll wear a black blindfold and a hook on my arm, like the pirate captain in the illustrated novel......"

Collingwood laughed when he was amused by Nelson:

"You're still so humorous. But what are you going to do now? The Prime Minister suggested that you should go back to London early and accept the canonization before going to the peace talks.

"We Europeans have finally drawn the Ming Dynasty this time, which is an unprecedented and significant event, and this negotiation will also become a gathering of the entire civilized world."

"Then you can return to London half a month early, and the Grand Fleet can be slowly brought back to Europe by Charles and me."

Nelson listened to his companion's advice, and after reading the telegram carefully, he slowly shook his head and said:

"It is indeed an unprecedented event, the tentacles of the Ming Empire have completely extended into the back garden of Europe - the Mediterranean.

"The Europeans will have to accept later the fact that the Ming will be directly involved in the affairs of the European homeland.

"The most ridiculous thing is that the Europeans just couldn't accept this in the first place, so they took the initiative to launch a war against the Ming Dynasty.

"But now, the war has made it a reality, and Europeans are glad for it......"

Collingwood smiled a little helplessly:

"The war has made the Europeans realize that it is impossible to make the Mediterranean their backyard a paradise.

"After all, the Mediterranean, which is the sea between the three major landmasses of Asia, Europe and Africa, is not the Europeans' own sea.

"The Baltic Sea is the sea of Europeans, and it is not unacceptable for the Ming to participate in Mediterranean affairs......"

Nelson shook his head with a wry smile again:

"It is true that it is not unacceptable for us in the United Kingdom, but it is not necessarily the case in the countries of the Mediterranean."

Collingwood didn't continue with this stubble:

"So what about your decision? Do you want to return to London early? You can leave with a small cruiser fleet.

"You can pass through the Red Sea as well as ...... The canal, controlled by the Ming people, leads directly into the Mediterranean. ”

Nelson shook his head directly:

"Until the agreement is formally signed, the war cannot be considered completely over.

"The smoke of gunpowder is still wafting over the world, and the Ming people may regret it at any time, and now they can't rush to the territory of the Ming people.

"I went straight to the Cape of Good Hope, not to London to receive the canonization.

"The period before the start of the peace talks is just in time to test my new warship ......"

Hearing Nelson talk about the new warship, Collingwood immediately understood, shook his head helplessly and sighed:

"You're still thinking about yours - the perfect battleship? A capital ship with all the same caliber guns, and an armored cruiser with a faster design of the same design? ”

"Yes—"

Nelson said very decisively, and then turned around quite forcefully, stretched out his arms and pointed at the steel jungle on the sea:

"Our huge fleet is actually not the best, and the oceans of the future will definitely be dominated by high-speed warships that all use the same caliber main guns!"

Collingwood smiled wryly and spread his hands and said:

"But the fleet of the Ming people is also like this now......"

Nelson sighed helplessly, and then tried to convince his companion:

"The choice of the Ming people is not necessarily correct, especially this war has also verified this, we are not unable to keep pace with the Ming people.

"If our navy in the United Kingdom wants to continue to develop, if we want to replace the Ming navy, we must not just imitate them, we must win by surprise.

"My idea has actually been endorsed by many naval officials and generals, including Viscount Hood.

"It's just that the Ming people didn't do that, and because we didn't have tangible data evidence, we couldn't really convince the Admiralty.

"So when I came out this time, I was ready.

"Concentrate the main guns of several warships, under the command of the flag and radio, to jointly attack targets at a longer distance.

"With these data, coupled with the upsurge of public opinion over the Ming people, Viscount Hood should be able to ask for the share of the construction of test ships.

"The Ming Navy has not built this kind of warship until now, so maybe it will become the hope of defeating the Ming Navy!"

After a short period of thought, Collingwood nodded very decisively:

"Okay, then I'll cooperate with you."

Nelson smiled and nodded:

"Thank you......"